Sweet Water Prime Seafood

A few weeks ago, I was out of town, clear across the country. Had a late flight, complete with lost luggage, and was more than tired when I arrived with two kids in tow. We were being picked up at the airport by an 80-year-old who was hell-bent on going to Red Lobster for coconut shrimp. Considering all of the above, I was in no condition to plead otherwise.

Cut to a few weeks later, and Sweet Water Prime Seafood in Henderson. Coconut shrimp on the menu. One of our group decides to try them. And, surprise: The version at Red Lobster was better.

A lot better.

I don't like making comparisons between restaurants because it's generally not fair. I also don't like taking cheap shots, because it's a lazy way to write a review. But the earlier experience was so fresh in my mind that the comparison was inevitable. And I expected much more from Sweet Water.

The sand dabs ($24), for example. I was pretty excited when I saw them on the menu, because it's rare -- "rare," in this case, translating to "basically, never" -- that restaurants in our area serve them; they're more commonly found in San Francisco. I was surprised not only to see them on Sweet Water's menu, but to see them listed with a green-peppercorn sauce, since sand dabs are delicate little fish and green-peppercorn sauces tend to be pretty assertive, usually served with a steak or something along those lines.

The reality, as it turns out, was mixed: No, there wasn't a green-peppercorn sauce, the menu description notwithstanding; it was a parsley sauce, and quite mild by comparison. But then again, the sand dabs had been sauteed into oblivion, the delicate little fillets taking on the texture of the mashed potatoes on which they rested, so I guess the sauce wouldn't have mattered that much. Crisp-tender brocciolini on the side was a nice touch.

Actually, overcooking seemed to be the theme of the evening. No, it's not unusual for chefs to overcook seafood, even in coastal parts of the country, but I expect better in a restaurant that's dedicated to seafood. The biggest problem with the coconut-crusted shrimp ($19) was that they were fried way too long, rendering the breading (which was short of coconut to the point that it was barely detectable) almost hard. Ditto for the macadamia-crusted mahi-mahi ($13), which, coincidentally, was woefully short of macadamia nuts.

Maybe those were questions of economy, since both entrees were in the reasonable range, but that doesn't explain the "Sweet Water rosemary fries," which were woefully short of rosemary. They also had been fried in stale oil, so that they acquired a heavy old-oil flavor.

One bright spot was the side salad served with the shrimp and mahi-mahi, which was short on neither macadamia nuts nor flavor and was the best dish we had all evening.

Another bright spot was the runner-up for best dish of the evening, which was the Prime Rib Chowder ($5 for a cup, $8 for a bowl), a thick stewlike mixture with a surprisingly spicy kick.

And we pretty much liked our other starter, the lobster macaroni and cheese ($15). It was more creamy than cheesy, but the farfalle (butterfly, or bow-tie) pasta was nicely al dente, and there were quite a few chunks of lobster -- much of a small tail, if the accompanying empty shell can be taken as proof.

Service was a bit of a problem. We were greeted immediately by a pleasant hostess, the first of our two waiters arrived not long after we were seated, and our food did arrive promptly. But no wine list was brought until we requested one, and then one of our waiters came by to take our drink orders and asked for our food orders as well -- something that I generally don't like to do. And here's why: Our appetizers arrived before our drinks did.

And, as it turned out, so did our entrees. When Waiter No. 1 arrived with the entrees and inquired upon noticing that we didn't have any wine, Waiter No. 2 suddenly remembered that we had ordered some. He brought the wine, but not a cocktail that one of us had ordered. For that we had to ask a busboy, since we couldn't spot either of our waiters.

To their credit, they did offer to comp a dessert. But the Key lime eclair ($7) was woefully short of Key lime flavor -- which we at first thought was because it was so heavily blanketed with chocolate sauce, but even digging into its interior and avoiding the chocolate didn't yield any lime flavor. And neither did the shockingly bright-green "mint-lime coulis" on which it rested, which didn't taste of mint, either.

I will say the place is absolutely gorgeous, all dark wood and glass, with soothing light jazz on the sound system. There's a lot of attention to detail in the form of heavy flatware with fishtail-shaped ends, and blue hues in the overhead lights and even in the flameless "candle" on the table. Why the same attention to detail didn't extend to the rest of the place was a mystery to us.

But at the very least, you'd think they could cook seafood.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.